From ‘Wet Hot American Summer’ to ‘Crip Camp,’ scenes from summer camp
Parents, it’s about that time to ship off your pubescent kids for a week or three in the woods. At sleepaway camp, they’ll learn how to build a fire and paddle a canoe, and they’ll probably learn a couple more things that you’d rather not hear about.
Summer camp has been a recurring theme at the movies since the late 1970s, when cruelty and permissiveness were rampant in films aimed at young folks. The easy typecasting of adolescence, the endless cutthroat games, the libidinal fumbling: There are more empty calories for scriptwriters in a camp setting than there are in your average snack shack. Add a layer of terror — woods are scary! — and you have a foolproof recipe that keeps coming back, like sloppy Joes.
There are at least as many bad movies about summer camp as “John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt” has letters. Here are some that merit at least a participation medal.
Meatballs (1979)
In his official movie debut, Bill Murray captured his entire lifestyle in four simple words: “It just doesn’t matter!” Leading that chant at Camp North Star, the low-budget summer program where his character, Tripper Harrison, is head counselor, the “SNL” star launched a film career in which he’s played a version of the same cavalier guy ever since.
Friday the 13th (1980)
If “Jaws” forever instilled in us the collective fear of what’s below the surface of the ocean, this classic slasher flick ruined lake swimming for a generation. Since 2011, an enterprising tour group has offered “Crystal Lake” outings at Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco, the real-life Boy Scout camp in Hardwick, N.J., which served as the location for the original “Friday the 13th.”
Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
Wes Anderson’s take on the classic camp experience is a lot fussier, naturally, than the usual grubby summer-camp fare. “Jiminy Cricket, he flew the coop!” cries Edward Norton’s Scout Master Randy Ward upon discovering that one young camper, smitten Sam Shakusky, has gone AWOL. Sam’s off to meet the girl of his dreams on the fictional New England island of New Penzance.
Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown (1977)
The unfortunate dog that takes a notorious arrow to the neck in “Moonrise Kingdom” is named Snoopy. No such fate awaits our fearless beagle in the Peanuts gang’s summer-camp adventure. He speeds Charlie Brown to Camp Remote on his motorcycle after the bus leaves the poor schlub behind. Later, Snoopy and Woodstock save the day during a climactic raft race.
Wet Hot American Summer (2001)
The writers (from the cult MTV sketch series “The State”) and comic actors who conjured this ridiculous spoof were just the right age to have lived the 1980s camp-movie boom firsthand. It’s a stacked, knowing cast: Janeane Garofalo plays the camp director, and the ensemble includes Paul Rudd, Molly Shannon, Amy Poehler, and a new face named Bradley Cooper.
Happy Campers (2001)
“Thank God my Bible camp lost its funding!” blurts one boy in this raunchy comedy, the directorial debut from the guy who wrote the “Heathers” script (Daniel Waters). Starring the late Brad Renfro, the film went straight to video, but has since found a camp audience. Asked to define her sexuality, Jaime King’s Pixel replies, “I didn’t realize I had to declare a major.”
Theater Camp (2023)
Due in July, this jaded, Sundancetested crowd-pleaser is based on the 2020 short film starring Ben Platt (“Dear Evan Hansen”). At AdirondACTS, the young campers are forced to confront the harsh realities of being a showbiz kid. “You guys are so talented, so unbelievable,” beams Rebecca-Diane (Molly Gordon). “This will destroy you.”
Crip Camp (2020)
So what have we learned? In the realm of summer camp, “it just doesn’t matter.” At this real-life camp in the early 1970s, however — Camp Jened, near Woodstock — young people with disabilities forged a bond that eventually lead to the establishment of the disability rights movement. In this acclaimed documentary, there is in fact some dignity in coming of age.